


Looking for Company

by 4ce_in_sp4ce



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Banter, Bickering, Card Games, Flirting, I'm only vaguely aware of how gin rummy is played, M/M, Very Minor Injuries, after the kick but before they wake up on the plane, and by vaguely aware I mean I tried reading the wikipedia article and got really confused, brief mentions of Ariadne Cobb and Yusuf, post-canon but not fully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26669110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4ce_in_sp4ce/pseuds/4ce_in_sp4ce
Summary: Eames had always bickered with Arthur but it had crossed the line from friendly banter into solidly flirting over the course of the Fischer job, andparticularlyover the course of the last week.A couple of moments in-between the time they wake back up on the first level and when they wake up on the plane
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 81





	Looking for Company

“You look like a drowned rat.” It was maybe a bit of an unfair assessment, but Arthur _was_ soaked. To be fair they were _all_ soaked, with there having been little time to dry off between the plunge into the river and the heavy downpour, but Arthur looked particularly sad. His normally well-fitting clothes clung to him oddly and his hair was hanging loosely in his face. Drowned rat might be a bit harsh, but he definitely looked out of sorts.

Arthur flipped him off, not even bothering to look up from the papers he was sorting through. “How’s it look outside?”

“Looks fine. I don’t think the projections followed us once we left Fischer alone. If they did, they’re at least not shooting.” Eames crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, nodding at the red stains on Arthur’s sleeve. “You do realize you’re bleeding, right?”

“Yes, Eames, I’m aware. It’s nothing major.”

“You going to address it or anything?”

“It can wait until later.” Arthur continued sifting through the papers carefully. “I’m fine.”

“What are you even looking at? I didn’t realize Ariadne included reading material with this level.”

“Information on the safehouses. Yusuf was afraid he wouldn’t be able to remember all of it, so Ariadne included maps and information at all the locations just in case.”

Eames frowned. “Arthur, we _just_ got here. The plan was to stay the night in each safehouse. You don’t need to be planning the move to the next one until this evening at the earliest. You can spare a few minutes to get patched up in the meantime.”

“We don’t know for sure that the projections didn’t follow us though. If they did we need to be prepared to leave immediately, and I don’t want…”

“ _Arthur_.”

Arthur sighed, shoulders dropping as he finally looked up. “You’re not going to leave me alone about this are you?”

“Nope.” Eames straightened up. “Now sit down. I’ll go get the med kit.”

Arthur was seated with an impatient look when Eames returned. “I really am fine.”

Eames snorted. “Yeah that’s really convincing, what with the blood soaking through your shirt and all.” He sat down next to Arthur, opening up the med kit. “Come on, roll up your sleeve.”

“I can do this myself, you know. I’m perfectly capable of bandaging my own wounds.”

“And we both know that if I leave this to you, it’ll be hours before it gets done. You’re even worse than Cobb when it comes to that.” Arthur tensed and Eames grimaced slightly. The news that Cobb had stayed in limbo to find Saito had hit them all hard, and Arthur was the closest to Cobb out of the four of them. Eames glanced up at him but he was looking away, expression hidden. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. If anyone can find Saito in limbo and get out alright, it’s him.”

“Yeah.”

Eames carefully wiped away the partially dried blood from around the various cuts on Arthur’s forearm. He’d probably gotten them in the crash, or from flying glass during the drive; Yusuf’s driving had certainly left something to be desired, and they’d all woken up with various cuts and bruises. Arthur seemed to have managed to take the worst of it though. “You know, I’ve been curious about something.”

“Great,” Arthur sighed. “I’m sure I’ll be thrilled to hear where this is going.”

“How’d you manage a kick in zero gravity? It’s hard to drop people when they can’t actually fall.”

“Oh.” Arthur shrugged. “Loaded everyone into the elevator and used the C4 to send the elevator up to the top of the shaft. The initial explosion provided gravity and the impact served as the kick.”

Eames looked up, surprised. “That’s…impressively creative. Especially for you.”

Arthur frowned at him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s supposed to mean you’re usually a tightwad with no imagination.”

“Fuck you.”

Eames grinned and went back to wiping the blood away. “Am I wrong?”

“I’m methodical and organized. That doesn’t mean I’m a tightwad.”

“No. But you definitely are though.”

“Not everyone can function at your level of…chaos, you know.” Arthur gestured vaguely with his other hand. “Some of us prefer to have some structure.”

Eames laughed. “Chaos? Darling, you haven’t seen me at even _close_ to my most chaotic.”

“That feels like a threat.”

“Who knows, maybe it is.” Eames grinned at him again. “It’s only a threat if you don’t know how to have a good time.” He started cleaning the cuts themselves, trying to be gentle. “Though, to be fair, I don’t think you _do_ know how to have a good time. So yeah, it’s probably a threat.”

“I’m perfectly capable of having a good time, thank you very much. We just happen to have different ideas about what a ‘good time’ is.”

“Yeah, I imagine your version of a good time is, I don’t know, reading textbooks and going to bed at 6pm or some shit.” 

Eames had expected an annoyed huff or sarcastic reply, but he got a genuine laugh instead. “Seriously?”

“Maybe cleaning the kitchen or something if you’re feeling _really_ wild.”

“Fuck _off_.”

“Reorganizing the cabinets, just really going off the rails.”

“God, you’re insufferable, you know that?”

Eames could hear him grinning. “I’ve been called worse. By you, actually. Several times.” He continued cleaning the cuts, pausing and glancing up when he felt Arthur wince. “You alright?”

“Yeah, just stings a bit. I’m fine.”

Eames sighed, looking back at Arthur’s arm. Thankfully none of the cuts were too deep, but there were enough that he was glad they weren’t in the real world. They’d been expecting to hold Fischer hostage for most, if not all, of the week, so all the safehouses were designed as abandoned buildings. Not exactly ideal circumstances to have a bunch of open cuts, and plenty of opportunity for them to get infected. “You should be careful over the next few days. A week isn’t long enough for you to end up with something that’ll kill you, but you’d be surprised how quickly a painful infection can set in, and we’re in prime circumstances for something like that to happen.”

Arthur laughed dryly. “Considering how much everything else on this job went to shit, I suppose it’s probably best not to push my luck, isn’t it?”

“I’ve _never_ had a job go this badly in so many ways before. And that’s saying something.” Eames started wrapping Arthur’s forearm in gauze. “I can barely believe we pulled it off, honestly.”

“You think the idea will stick?”

Eames nodded. “Fischer was already talking about it when we got to the shore. I think we actually managed to do it.” He tied off the bandage carefully and looked up, Arthur’s arm still resting in his hands. He had a few small nicks on his face but none bad enough that they needed patching up. It was a miracle, honestly, that none of the four of them had been more seriously injured during all of it. That they hadn’t been killed and ended up in limbo themselves. He’d certainly had a couple of close calls on the last level, and if Arthur hadn’t figured out how to drop them without gravity none of them would’ve made it back to the first level. The reality of just how close things had truly been hit him and he reached out, running his thumb gently under one of the small cuts. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Arthur gave him a tired smile. “I’m glad you’re okay too.” They stared at each other a moment longer before Arthur looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly. Eames blinked and pulled his hand back, uncomfortably aware of how warm his face suddenly felt. “Don’t start celebrating yet though, we still have almost an entire week to get through.”

“Right, yeah.” Eames nodded, a small bit of tension draining out of him despite his embarrassment. Not a lot- Arthur was right, they still had almost a week for things to go wrong- but a little. They were okay. They’d gotten through the actual job itself and the next week would be spent switching from safehouse to safehouse, trying not to attract attention from Fischer’s projections, but they’d made it. They’d be alright. 

XXX

Eames leaned against the doorway. “Seriously? Solitaire?”

Arthur looked up, rolling his eyes when he saw Eames’ grin. “Not exactly a lot of card games you can play by yourself.”

Eames walked over and pulled another chair up to the table. “You could’ve played with someone.”

“Ariadne and Yusuf are both asleep. And _you_ ,” Arthur shot him an accusing glare, “can’t be trusted in a card game. I still remember Johannesburg.”

“Oh, now _that_ was a good game,” Eames laughed. “You lost what, $1000?”

“$1500 actually. And only because you cheated.”

Eames gasped in mock outrage. “What? Me, cheat? You _wound_ me, Arthur.”

Arthur snorted, turning back to his cards. “Right, because you’re such a nice, upstanding guy.”

Eames grinned again. “Well, takes one to know one.” He leaned back in the chair, watching Arthur for a moment. “How about a game of gin rummy? Low stakes, no betting, and it’ll be less sad than you playing fucking solitaire by yourself in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. Switch one older person card game out for another.”

Arthur glanced back up and watched him for a moment before finally nodding and gathering the deck. “Alright. If I get even a _suspicion_ that you’re cheating, though, I’m going back to being pathetic and playing solitaire alone.”

“Fine, fine, I promise to play fair.”

“Hm.” Arthur watched him suspiciously as he shuffled the deck. “What point value are we playing to?”

Eames shrugged. “Standard 100?”

“Works for me.”

Arthur dealt and they began playing in silence. Eames couldn’t exactly blame him for being suspicious. Eames had spent enough time in casinos and playing cards to be a formidable opponent even when he was playing fair and he certainly wasn’t above cheating to make things interesting if he thought he could get away with it, which he usually could. It was fun to play a straight game every once in a while though, beating people on skill and experience alone. It added a little extra challenged even if it admittedly wasn’t usually that difficult. 

Arthur, as it turned out, was weirdly good at gin rummy, though, keeping even with him as they played. Eventually a jack-queen-king run pushed him over the 100 point mark just before Eames reached it. Eames frowned. “Fucking hell, you play gin rummy like an 80 year woman scorned at bingo.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you,” Arthur laughed. He gathered the deck and looked up, eyebrows raised. “Another game?”

“Obviously.” Eames grinned at him. “I have to redeem myself. Can’t let it get around that I lost at cards to _you_ of all people.”

“Your reputation would be beyond salvage if that got out.” Arthur held the deck out. “Your turn to shuffle and deal.”

Eames took the cards, fingers brushing against Arthur’s as he grabbed them. “I’d never recover.” He nodded towards Arthur’s arms as he started shuffling. “How’re your cuts doing?”

“They’re fine. Not like any of them were that serious to begin with.” Arthur shrugged. “They’re more annoying than anything else.”

“That’s good. You should still be careful though. I doubt they’re healed enough that you’re out of the woods in terms of them getting infected.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I know how to take care of wounds, Mr. Eames.”

“Oh, I’m back to being ‘Mr. Eames’, am I?”

“Yes. You get demoted for nagging.”

“Sorry for caring about your well-being.” Eames tried to stifle his laughter at least a little as he dealt the cards; Yusuf and Ariadne _were_ asleep in the next room and he didn’t want to accidentally wake them. “I’ll remember to think twice about it next time I get the urge.”

“Hm, it’s just the nagging I don’t like.” Arthur picked up the hand Eames had dealt him with barely disguised amusement. He leaned back in his chair as he looked the cards over, his knee coming to rest against Eames’ under the table.

Eames glanced up, half expecting Arthur to move his leg back and pleasantly surprised when he didn’t. He slid forward slightly, letting his knee rest against the inside of Arthur’s thigh. The light in the warehouse was pretty dim and Arthur was looking down at his cards, but Eames was fairly sure he could see a blush creeping into Arthur’s cheeks. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He tried to focus on the game- he fully intended to win this time, dammit- but it was harder with Arthur’s leg against his. The only consolation was that Arthur seemed to be having a similar problem, getting distracted every time Eames shifted. Normally Eames would’ve teased him about it, especially since he was _positive_ Arthur was blushing now, but he knew that Arthur would pull away as soon as he said something. Besides, he was fairly certain his own face was probably a noticeable shade of pink, so just trying to focus on the game seemed like the best course of action. 

It was close. Eames was at 98 points and fairly certain he was going to make it when Arthur put down another jack-queen-king run that put him at 101. Eames eyed him carefully. “Okay, I know _I’m_ usually the one suspected of cheating-”

“And rightly so,” Arthur interjected.

Eames ignored him. “-but you’re _suspiciously_ good at this.”

“What can I say? Between solitaire and gin rummy, I guess just have a penchant for sad old person card games.”

“Clearly.” Eames grinned. “Another round? I swear I’ll beat you this time.”

“I was actually thinking of turning in.” Arthur sighed and stood up, Eames immediately missing the feeling of Arthur’s leg against his. Arthur gathered his cards and set them in front of Eames, giving him a small smile. “I’m not letting you forget this, though. Old person game or not, I still beat you twice. _And_ ,” Arthur’s smile turned a little smug, “I didn’t have to cheat to do it.”

“Piss off. You were never able to prove I actually cheated in Johannesburg.”

“Maybe, but we both know you did.” Arthur squeezed his shoulder slightly as he walked by, and Eames looked up at him, surprised. “You should get some sleep too. It’s getting late.”

XXX

Arthur was leaning against one of the railings on the warehouse roof when Eames found him. He’d offered to watch for projections for the last few hours before they woke but seemed to be enjoying the view more than actually keeping watch, gun on the concrete beside him. He glanced up as Eames walked over. “Mind if I join you?”

Arthur slid over to make room. “Not at all.”

Eames sat down next to him, leaning back against the metal. “The roof’s a bit of an odd place to be keeping watch, isn’t it?”

“We’re at the end of the week and we haven’t been bothered by any of Fischer’s projections since we left him alone. If they were going to attack us they would’ve done it long before now.” Arthur shrugged. “Besides, this is the only spot where I can see both the alley and the sunset.”

“Yusuf does create some pretty impressive ones, doesn’t he?”

“Almost makes up for the fact that we had to deal with constant downpour for the first five days.”

Eames chuckled. “I can’t tell which is better: the fact that it’s not raining anymore, or Yusuf freaking out over what it _means_ that it’s not raining anymore.”

Arthur grinned. “ _Definitely_ the second one.” They fell into a comfortable silence, both looking out over the surrounding rooftops and watching the sky. It really was an impressive sunset, painting everything a vibrant gold. “It actually feels a bit weird knowing we’ll wake up in a few hours.”

Eames glanced over. In the bright light he could see Arthur’s profile better than he could actually see Arthur himself. “I’m ready for it to be over with, honestly. This is the longest I’ve ever stayed in a dream, and I’ll be perfectly happy if I’m never in one this long again.”

“Agreed.” Arthur drew his legs up slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. “Any plans once we land?”

“Nothing in particular. It’s been a while since I’ve been to LA, so I thought I might just spend a few days enjoying the city.” He paused. “You?”

“After this mess?” Arthur shrugged and Eames could just barely see him smile tiredly through the sun’s glare. “Probably get a drink.”

Eames laughed. “Fair enough.” He hesitated, glancing over again. They’d always bickered but it had crossed the line from friendly banter into solidly flirting over the course of the job, and _particularly_ over the past week. But interest in a dream or during a job didn’t always translate to interest in afterwards. It was certainly worth a shot though. “Want some company?”

“I’d love some, actually.” Arthur’s smile was less tired and more genuine this time. “Took you long enough to ask.”

Eames rolled his eyes, laughing slightly and looking back out over the surrounding buildings. “Don’t push it, or I might change my mind.”

“Hm.” Arthur leaned against Eames’ arm, and Eames could still hear the smile in his voice even if he couldn’t see it now. “You won’t.”

Eames grinned, leaning against Arthur in return. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> so this actually started out as an alternate version of _another_ [fic I wrote](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054584), but I ended up still liking it so I decided to keep running with it and make it it's own fic


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